FAITH UNDER FIRE

Prayers at graduation land colleges in hot water

Group claims doing so is unconstitutional

Published: 11/07/2018 at 12:08 PM

(CAMPUS REFORM) — A civil rights group filed a complaint against two Michigan colleges after commencement speakers prayed during their commencement speeches.

Muskegon Community College Trustee Ann Oakes included a religious invocation in her speech to the school’s graduates in May. Late last month, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) filed a complaint against the school, disputing the constitutionality of her behavior, according to MLive.

“Let us pray. Gracious Lord, we thank you, that you are with us. We thank you for your loving kindness, family, friends,” Oakes said in her commencement invocation. “We ask, O God, for the wisdom of Solomon. We ask, O God, for the inner strength of Sampson. But above all, we ask for a heart of love like You. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.”